Other Women: Emma Flint

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And then, of course, into this rather puzzling scenario the inevitable happens Bea gets pregnant... and ends up murdered and dismembered - though Tom also gets his comeuppance through the actions of his wife. When I started writing Other Women, I was in my early forties. I was single and financially independent, with a career I loved, friends, hobbies, ambitions, dreams. The woman who inspired the character of Beatrice Cade was around my age and she had all these things too – yet she risked every one of them for a relationship with a man she knew was married and unavailable. It is 1923 and a country is in mourning. Thousands of husbands, fathers, sons and sweethearts were lost in Europe, millions more returned home wounded and forever changed.

This beautifully written, pitch-perfect historical mystery is based on a real case - here, a murder that took place in 1924 . . . a moving study of loneliness, desperation, shame and public prurience. -- Laura Wilson * The Guardian * A fast paced plot, told in a hugely readable and compelling writing style, I raced through this one. This case may have been sensational in 1924. But these days this type of crime raises an equal amount sensational coverage, so this novel does not depict anything new in that respect. Where it did well was the portrait of the moral values of that time. A 37-year-old single woman working was not common at that time. But since it is just 5 years after the war there was a surplus of women. Eligible men for a making a good husband were in short supply it seems. So, as in this case, there was a yearning for male companionship that would hopefully end in marriage. That was the situation in which Beatrice Cade found herself when she met Tom Ryan. Ms. Flint wanted to give the female protagonists a voice, which unfortunately just became too long-winded. Initially, there was some suspense of what might happen to either woman, but halfway through the book, she goes right to the heart of it by starting with the court case against Tom who was accused of killing poor Beatrice. The court proceedings turn out a little wooden even allowing for the rather stiff British way of speaking at that time. Mesmerising and haunting, Emma Flint's Other Women is a devastating story of fantasy, obsession inspired by a murder that took place almost a hundred years ago. To read a book from the point of view of the women involved was fascinating and well done. Both women were relatable, despite being of their time. I will be recommending this book.There is some spice towards the end with the detection of a damning piece of evidence and the disclosure that Tom raped his wife at the age of 15 (though this does not have any bearing on or any airing during the court proceedings). Beatrice Cade is an orphan, unmarried and childless. After her brother's death, she decides to make a new life for herself. She takes a room in a Bloomsbury ladies’ club and a job in the City. But just when her new world is starting to take shape, a fleeting encounter threatens to ruin everything.

It’s six years since the end of the Great War and the ladies in the typing pool eagerly anticipate the arrival of new employee Mr Thomas Ryan. As he walks in he smiles at Beatrice Cade and that smile sure does something to her! Beatrice is 37, unmarried and lives in a ladies club in Bloomsbury. Then there’s Kate Ryan, Thomas’ wife who presents a good face to the world of the state of their marriage, in particular to their daughter Judith. This is an extremely dramatic, well written story of a love triangle with the focus being on the impact of it on both women. It’s told in alternating perspectives by Beatrice in the third person and by Kate in the first which makes for a fascinating contrast.I don’t have any easy answers to this, but perhaps one answer lies in the fairy tale belief that beauty equals goodness. This maxim is usually applied to women, but Mahon and Bundy – conventionally attractive men – seemed to have no trouble attracting admirers who believed their stories even when the extent of their crimes were revealed. I think at the heart of every novel is a question that the writer wants to explore (What would happen if…? How would it feel to…?) – for me, the initial question was: Why would this intelligent, middle-aged, respectable woman – who had so much in her life that was positive and good – risk everything that mattered to her for a man who was already married?

This kind of fascination was one of the initial inspirations for Other Women. I wanted to explore why we are so drawn to evil, especially when it appears behind a handsome mask. Why do we want to be near it, and why do we want to examine it so closely, when we know it has the potential to harm us? Kate is also in her thirties and also works in an office. However, she's a proud mother and wife. Married for thirteen years, with a young daughter, Kate is proud of her family and her house in a middle class area of London. Loosely based on a real murder this novel is set in 1920s London. It is told by two women, Bea and Kate, and has two timelines. Bea is one of the many women at that time, after the First World War, who work in an office for a low wage and live in a hostel with other women and no real expectations that anything will change. But then, when a new employee, Thomas Ryan, joins the firm as a buyer she is flattered by his attention and falls in love with him, despite knowing that he is married to Kate who also works for the company in a regional office. When someone is murdered suspicion immediately falls on him, he is charged with murder and the trial ensues. This is a story of love and obsession and I enjoyed it and found it interesting.” Other Women is an immersive read and a book I could hardly bear to put down. This is an author with a talent for characterisation and scene setting, and her ear for authentic dialogue is sharp and true. This is historical crime fiction, but its message still rings loud and clear 100 years on, within the tandem narratives of two women wronged by a master manipulator. Dowdy, easily dismissed spinster Bea and dutiful wife and mother Kate are given equal billing here and neither of them should be taken for granted. They are women with surprising depths – in stark contrast to the conniving but shallow Tom Ryan. Kate Ryan is a wife, a mother, and an accomplished liar. She has managed to build an enviable life with her husband and young daughter. To anyone looking in from the outside, they seem like a normal, happy family.

Customer reviews

Tune in to the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show to hear the live feature on Tuesday 7 March. You will also be able to listen to the full-length interview on BBC Sounds. Huge thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review, and for hosting the Readalong - the discussions have been fantastic, and I adore how our perceptions and opinions of the characters shifted as the book went along. Writing a review for this book without giving away anything is quite a challenge. The story is based on a true murder case from the 1920s and begins by introducing two women – one married and one unmar And besides them, there was a third type of woman: less visible and less noticed, and neither one thing nor another. These women were Misses without youth, middle- aged without wedding rings. They held fast to the banks of the river, avoiding the current, clustering together in the cool green shade.